Faculty Resources

Differential Tuition

What is differential tuition?

Differential Tuition is a course fee equivalent charge per credit hour that helps the College of Engineering (CoE) fully foster a diverse and creative learning environment that will empower students and faculty with the necessary knowledge and facilities to be national and international leaders.

Why does the college charge differential tuition?

In March 2015, the Board of Trustees approved Differential Tuition for the CoE. Prior to Fall 2015, $2 per credit was charged for open access computer maintenance and upgrades.The primary goal of differential tuition funds is to provide comprehensive learning environments with modern facilities and personnel resources to both undergraduate and graduate students. Differential Tuition allows the college to invest in adequate teaching faculty and teaching assistants to help with classroom activities including homework/project help, provide state-of-the-art laboratory equipment and software, provide opportunities for outreach activities such as participation in student-driven competition and programs, and provide networking opportunities to help prepare students for the modern workplace.

What courses have differential tuition?

All engineering courses, except for thesis or dissertation courses, have differential tuition. Courses that are cross-listed with other colleges, but taught by engineering faculty also have differential tuition. All lower level courses (less than 2999) may also have course-specific course fees to fulfill costs.

What is the cost of differential tuition?

School Year

Lower Division Courses

Cost Per Credit Hour (less than 2999)

Upper Division Courses Cost Per Credit Hour (higher than 2999)

Graduate Level Courses

Cost Per Credit Hour

2015-2016

$2

$19

$28

2016-2017

$2

$34

$48

2017-2018

$2

$48

$69

2018 +

Increase linked to Tier 1 tuition increases

What will differential tuition funds be spent on?

At the undergraduate level, differential tuition will be used to:

Support more timely degree completion by offering more required course sections

Improve learning by reducing class sizes

Maintain and upgrade labs with state-of-the-art equipment

Enrich senior design and other programs

Hire more student-peer mentors, teaching assistants, and graders

Support out-of-classroom experiences such as field trips and guest lecturers

Provide resources for student-driven outreach activities

Where needed, hire teaching-only faculty

At the graduate level, differential tuition will be used for:

Graduate students who need bridging-to-completion funds

Graduate student travel to conferences and other professional development opportunities

Support for specialized equipment

Resources for projects identified by graduate students

$2 per credit of the differential tuition fee is automatically allocated to engineering computer labs.

No differential tuition funds will be used to hire or increase salaries of tenured and/or tenure-track faculty.

Advisory Board Meeting (2015 – 2016)

Members

Jagath Kaluarachchi (Dean)

V. Dean Adams (EED)

Jake Gunther (ECE)

David Britt (BE)

Marvin Halling (CEE)

Vicki Allan (CS)

Ryan Berke (MAE)

Amber Buatte (College FO)

Olivia Binks (Student Leadership)

Jaque Johansen (Student Leadership)

Zeke Villarreal (Student Leadership)

Ayman Alafifi (Graduate Student Rep)

Minutes

Jagath reviewed the history of Differential Tuition and how the approval process it went through. He also described the different ways accounting made between different tuition and course fees.

Amber presented data on how Differential Tuition was spent for Fall 2015 and Spring 2016. The slides she presented are attached.

Various questions were asked and suggestions made:

– Can Differential Tuition be used to add electrical outlets in the 3rd floor study area?

– It was mentioned that more TA’s would be beneficial.

– The smaller courses for entry level courses has been viewed as a great benefit.

Amber will be working with the Website Master to get information about how Differential Tuition was spent on the college website. The students would like an email to be sent out as well so that they know how to access that information.